Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Did Slick Rick Pull a Fast One?

Dick Harmon of the Deseret Morning News reports that Tennessee Titan offensive coordinator Norm Chow called UCLA quarterback Ben Olson a minimum of two times last week.

During the calls, Chow told Olson he was looking forward to working with Olson as the UCLA head coach next season. Harmon says the basis of his report comes from sources close to Olson, a former Brigham Young quarterback who transferred to UCLA.

It's not clear what happened next, but Chow suddenly took himself out of the running last Thursday. The suspicion is that Rick Neuheisel — one of the finalists for the job — promised UCLA chancellor Gene Block the earth, moon, sun and stars, including saying "he could produce four different donors, each giving $1 million for the Pauley Pavilion makeover," according to T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times.